By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed General Christopher Gwabin Musa as Nigeria’s new Minister of Defence.
The announcement was made on Tuesday in a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
According to Onanuga, President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination to Senate President Godswill Akpabio in a letter seeking legislative confirmation. The appointment follows the resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who stepped down on Monday citing health reasons.
General Musa, 58, is a seasoned military officer who served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025. He received the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, he completed his basic education in the state before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and proceeded to the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1991.
Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1991, General Musa has held several strategic appointments, including General Staff Officer 1, Training and Operations, HQ 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements at the Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative on the Training Team of the HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training and Operations at the Infantry Centre and Corps Headquarters, and later as Commander of Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole, as well as Commander of Sector 3 of the Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad region.
By 2021, he was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, before going on to head the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps. President Tinubu appointed him Chief of Defence Staff in 2023.
In his letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture in line with ongoing reforms.